Road infrastructure in fast lane, 2 elevated BRTs planned

Road infrastructure became a separate head for allocation this budget, in sync with the government's plan to cut air pollution, and factoring in road improvement.TNN | Updated: March 29, 2016, 13:22 IST

NEW DELHI: Road infrastructure became a separate head for allocation this budget, in sync with the government's plan to cut air pollution, and factoring in road improvement for public transport, non-motorised vehicles and pedestrians. The plan outlay for this is Rs 2,208 crore, which is 11% of the total plan outlay.

Two elevated BRT corridors have been proposed: one running north-south from Wazirabad to IGI Airport (24km) and the other going east-west from Anand Vihar to Piragarhi (29km). These corridors would come up along the already planned east-west and north-south corridors with some alignment modifications. If these succeed, more such corridors would be built, said deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

"These are being built on PPP mode. Appointment of consultant for conducting feasibility study and preparation of a detailed project report have been initiated and the proposal has been sent to UTTIPEC," said Sisodia.

The government had announced plans to redesign 11 stretches last year; the project would be carried forward this fiscal too. Sisodia said the roads would be redesigned to cut traffic congestion. "Our thrust would be on creating infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. To promote public transport and to create infrastructure for them, redesigning of 11 roads would be done this year as a pilot project. These would include street furniture, glass lift, toilet blocks, plantations, solar-powered streetlights, rainwater harvesting," he added.

Once these 11 stretches are done, the model would be replicated on all PWD roads that have a total length of 1,260km .

Dedicated non-motorised lanes have been proposed on both sides of Outer Ring Road from Wazirabad to Vikaspuri.

Also, phase II of the elevated Barapullah corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to INA would become functional in the new fiscal. At present, the project is stuck, pending land transfer from Railways.

Phase-III of the same project from Sarai Kale Khan to Mayur Vihar, being made at a cost of Rs 1,261 crore, would be completed by December 2017. The government has allocated Rs 400 crore for both projects in the new fiscal.